Fire
by tibieryo
Summary: postExodus, CC fluff, what else? Charlie builds a fire, both the orange kind and the desirey kind. Rated for language and sex. Chapter 3 up
1. The Bench on the Beach

"Claire."

It was late. Everyone on the island had gone back to their shelters to spend the rest of the week after they'd figured out the Others weren't coming. Claire was just trying to use the time that Aaron was napping to sleep. She looked up at the man who'd called her, and while he normally sent shivers down her spine, she didn't want to talk to anyone right now. "What, Charlie?"

Charlie looked down at her, and wondered if he was doing the right thing. Maybe he should just let her sleep and go back. But he didn't even have a shelter built on the beach. And these days, he was thinking about Claire a lot more than he'd like to admit, and in a shelter-y sort of way. "C'mon, I got something to show you," Charlie said.

"Charlie, seriously, I just need to get some rest–" Claire managed to get out.

"It's right outside and it doesn't involve anything other than sitting," Charlie promised. He was nervous over whether this was going to work. It'd worked before, but this time. . . oh, hell. "Come on, I promise, it's warm andbeautiful."

I might as well see what he's got set up, Claire thought. Lord knows it'll be cute enough. Which led her down a trail of thought that normally ended in Charlie topless. But as she didn't have a night alone–anymore–she said, "Yeah, sure I'll come."

"Triffic. Come on." Charlie helped her out of her shelter and led her around to the side of it that was blocked by a piece of wreckage.

Claire was in awe. "You, built this yourself?" Claire asked, staring at it.

"What, don't like fire?" Charlie smirked. "Sides, if you look, I managed to set up a bench."

Claire looked away from the roaring fire in front of her and at the bench at her feet. "Highest quality bamboo on the whole damn Island," Charlie said. "Nothing less for my Claire." Charlie grinned and had a seat in front of the fire.

"Oh, I'm YOUR Claire, now, am I?" Claire said playfully. As she stared at the fire, she thought of what else he could do. Then she looked down at the bench, and she thought carpentry had to get hot. . . which again led to Charlie half-naked in her mind's eye.

"Who else would you belong to?" Charlie asked. "In case you haven't noticed, we're alone together out of the group. You're the reason I can't go rescuing doctors from cave-ins anymore." Now, that was a dumb thing to say, Charlie thought. "It's not like I own you or anything, just. . . have a seat." Charlie scooted over on the bench to make room for her.

Claire seriously doubted the stability of the bench, if Charlie made it alone. "You didn't make this all by yourself, did you?"

"Well, I had some help. . . from a few guys who actually TOOK woodshop." Charlie admitted in disgrace. "But, the fire's all mine!"

"That means you probably didn't build the bench topless then. There goes THAT little fantasy," Claire said with a glimmer in her eye. She took a seat next to him and stared at the fire. Wait, what did I just say? Claire panicked. Oh god. He knows about the–

"Pardon me? Does my Island goddess have an imagination?" Charlie joked. He joked, because there was no way she meant what she just said. Cos if she did, then this fire might work after all.

"Well, I meant– but I didn't mean– but, some might–" Claire spluttered.

"It's okay to think about me half-naked. Who wouldn't?" Charlie said with a grin on his face. "I mean, I'm pretty sure Jack thinks about me at night, now that you mention it."

"Okay, we have crossed the boundary into ooky-ville," Claire said, relieved he thought she was joking.

"Ookyville?" Charlie said laughing. "Tell me, what is this Ookyville place like?"

"Well," Claire started. "It's a place where doctors have wet dreams about rock gods. . ."

"Mhm?"

"And where. . . . I fall in love with Sawyer." They both burst out laughing at the thought. "And where, Shannon and Boone were really lovers and not related at all!"

"Ooh! And Locke is my biological father!" Charlie said, holding back tears.

"Oh! And Kate and Jack have been secretly getting it on outside the caves at night for months using Sawyer's stash of condoms!" Claire yelled. They both laughed until they cried and held each other.

"Well, Ookyville sounds like a horrible place," Charlie said. He wiped the tears from his eyes and was amazed Turnip-head hadn't awoken yet.

"Well, I should probably check on Aaron," Claire said, getting up. She looked down at Charlie, and just wanted to tackle him to the sand and have her way with him right there.

"If he's still asleep, promise you'll come back?" Charlie asked hopefully.

"Of course. Wouldn't think of staying in there alone, would I?" Claire stated.

"Great, I'll rebuild this," Charlie said, indicating the fire. It had dwindled since they last looked at anything other than each other. He went out and gathered some brush, along with a couple dead plants and tossed them on the flames. He walked back and forth chucking dead wood onto the fire. Finally, he sat down on the bench and stared at the stars, waiting for Claire to return.

"I hope I'm not intruding on anything," Claire said, leaning over above him with her hands on his shoulders.

"Ooh," said Charlie. "It's a Claire in my sky." He felt Claire trail a hand across his back from his shoulder down to his hips, and saw her sit next to him.

"You own the sky, now too?" Claire asked, turning to face him with one leg on either side of the bench. She poked him with her toe.

"You're impossible," he said, grinning. "Actually, due to the odds of an eight month pregnant girl, crash landing on an Island in the middle of the Pacific, while small, given that it has happened," said Claire, with Charlie barely able to follow her, "I'm improbable."

"Yep," he said. "Impossible." He looked her in the eye, making sure she didn't look away, then reached down and started tickling the bottom of her foot.

She shrank back, yelling "Not fair, not fair, not fair!" Charlie smirked and looked at the fire. Claire couldn't help but grin at him. She faced the fire, and scooched over to sit next to him. "Okay, new rule," Claire said. "No tickling."

"But, it's so much fun," Charlie said, putting on his fakest pout. "I mean, without being able to tickle Claire, what AM I supposed to DO with my life?"

Claire moved so that their legs were touching. "There are other things that you and Claire could do. . ." She brushed her foot against his.

Charlie looked at his foot, and then looked her in the eye. "Like?"

"Poke war!" Claire yelled. She tackled him to the ground and began poking him all over. She laughed like a jackal.

"Hey!" Charlie yelled, and pinned her arms to her sides with his hands. Charlie looked down and realized she was straddling him. Claire looked down and realized the same thing. They both looked each other in the eye and shared a look that said 'This is where we are.'

"So," Claire said, without a touch of awkwardness, "this is why you built the fire." He was relaxing his hold on her arms and she intertwined her hands in his.

"Could've been," Charlie said. He looked up at her, and just marveled at his Island goddess. "I thought we could use the alone-time." He paused and looked at where they were again. "I think we have our intentions worked out."

Claire smiled. After a while, she became serious, took her hands out of his and put them on his chest. "Charlie, this was really sweet, but, we can't just. . . I mean, other people have Ookyvilles too, and I'm pretty sure Shannon's has some graphic imagery about us," she said as she ran her fingers over his chest.

He smiled feebly up at her. "Claire," he began.

She placed a finger over his lips. "Sh. Don't say a thing. I just want to look for a second." She placed her hands at his sides and smiled.

He thought about earlier and grinned again. He took his hands, and slowly put them up and inside her shirt.

"Charlie? I thought we ag–AH! Not fair, not FAIR!" She giggled as he tickled her bare skin. She collapsed in a writhing ball beside him. He rolled over on top of her, with his hands still inside her shirt, and stopped tickling her.

"Sorry, you're just really cute when you're tickled," Charlie admitted. He looked down at her, hair spread out over the sand, mischievous grin on her face.

"Charlie Pace, you are a prat," she said, looking up at him. "A right son of a bitch."

"Now, now," Charlie said, "let's not bring my dear old Mam into this." He looked in her eyes as they shared a laugh. She sat up under him, as he moved back to sit on her thighs.

"You know what?" she said.

"What?"

"Fuck Shannon's Ookyville," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged him back down to the sand. She softly planted a kiss on his lips, and felt his hands move up her back, drawing her closer. The feel of his fingers on her bare skin was electric. And suddenly, even as they were pressed against each other, he was too far away.

Charlie pulled back for a second, and stared. She wasn't that far from half naked, and he knew they weren't going to stop until it had been done. He figured he might as well pause it now. "What was that you said about Sawyer's box of condoms?"

She leaned over and whispered into his ear, "I said, I think we have to ride bareback." She kissed his neck and slid out from under him.

As she walked back to her shelter, she slid her shirt off the rest of the way. She slowed down, reached behind her, undid her bra, and took it off. She turned around with her arm covering what she wouldn't show on the beach and threw both in Charlie's face. When his eyes were covered, she let her arm drop.

"I'll see you inside."


	2. The Sleeping Giant

Well, uh . . . thanks for the response? I. . . I'm flattered. Really. Truly. How many of you would guess that I was male? Surprise! Yeah. Uhh, that was really a one-shot, but, because of (unexpected but not unwanted) reader response, I'm gunna see if I can do the morning after. I will try. If you like it, you like it, if you don't, you don't. . . need to tell me.

Also, be aware, as the last chapter was rated for language, this one is rated for skating around sex to the point of teasing my readers. I like power. :)

Disclaimer: Well, I forgot to put it in the last chapter, so. . . I own nothing! Nothing at all. Nope. Not a thing. Except for the $0.25 Canadian to my name. Yep.

* * *

He awoke with a start. He blearily sat up, and cast his hands about. Blankets. . . check. Wreckage pieces. . . check. Sand. . . check. Woman. . . still no. Hurley sighed. He opened his eyes and looked around. It was still dark out. He could see the stars through the leaves over his wreckage.

He lay back down and stared into space, wishing that he could see Starla again. Or any woman. At all. Ever. He thought as he stared into space, Jeez, Charlie's the closest thing I have to a girlfriend on this island, and he can't believe that. . . Hurley sighed again. He rubbed his eyes, and figured out that he wasn't getting to sleep any time before dawn. Hurley got up and lumbered outside.

Hurley stretched and took in a deep breath. He loved the smell of the sea at night, and ever since the wreckage was washed away, he could enjoy it without the smell of burnt metal. But, he thought he smelled something funny just the same. Like the wreckage, only. . . was that bamboo?

Hurley looked up and down the beach. Up, he saw Kate's shelter, with the remains of a fire in front of it. He looked at it by the dim moonlight, and couldn't see any burnt metal. . . or anything that would stink so bad anyway. Down, he saw the remains of a considerably larger fire, that looked like it was made on a piece of wing with a bench set up in front of it. He looked at the embers, still burning, and started walking.

Hurley stared at the fire in confusion. Why would anyone build so big? Or so. . . a bench? On the beach? Hurley took the fire as granted, another weird thing on this island and sat to ponder the beach and the night.

And that's where he awoke two hours later as the sun was coming up.

Claire woke up gradually, feeling the warm ache inside her and the warm light outside of her. She moaned as she stretched with her eyes closed. Once satisfied that her muscles were sufficiently stretched, she lay back down and breathed in the air. As she did so, she realized two things: Charlie's fire smelled horrible the morning after and OH MY GOD DID I JUST SPEND THE NIGHT WITH CHARLIE!

Her eyes shot open as she remembered that her shelter only had three walls and anyone who walked by could see her. . . anything! She scurried back under the blankets and started casting about for clothes on the beach ground. Underwear, outerwear, robes, anything to walk outside and find her top in.

She eventually found a buttoned shirt and a pair of shorts in a pile of clean clothes in the back corner. As she hurriedly put them on, she stood, and tip-toed out onto the beach. As she turned to see Charlie's fire–long out by now–she saw that someone was in the way.

Claire wondered for a brief moment what in god's name Hurley was doing sitting on Charlie's bench. Then wondered what in god's name Hurley was doing SLEEPING on Charlie's bench. Then, as she scanned the beach, she wondered where the hell she'd left her top the last night.

She tip-toed past the sleeping giant, got down on her knees and started sifting through the sand for her shirt. Or her bra. That might be just as important. Claire started to look a lot faster.

Charlie awoke gradually, feeling the ground shift beneath him. He had a moment of morning amnesia where he half-thought, But bedrock doesn't shift! and then assumed he was on the beach, again. He scolded himself for sleeping down the beach from her, again, but he had to make sure she was alright.

Charlie started to shift around, when he felt that he was in a blanket. He moaned in confusion, and felt around under his head, where there was a pillow. His confusion grew when he realized he was naked. That was when his eyes shot open and he was staring at the bottom of a crib.

He closed his eyes in thought and tried to remember how he'd ended up here. After a moment's consideration, the entire night came back to him in one rush of images: Claire, topless, heading back to her shelter, running to her, ripping his own clothes off, leaving the fire outside alone, the fire in him stoked enough already. After that, it was a hazy blur of pale skin, soft lips and heat, so much heat, that he wondered why he wasn't burned to a crisp.

At the moment of realization, Charlie sat up faster than he should've, and hit his cut on the bottom of the crib, moaning in the back of his throat in agony. All told, this was better than him sitting up very fast, not hitting anything and shouting "WHOA!" like he would've had there been no crib. Because then, Hurley would have heard Charlie and seen Claire sneaking back into her shelter with her clothes.

Thankfully, Claire was able to travel back into her shelter silently and without Hurley's realization that she and Charlie had. . . hoo, oh, not thinking about that outside again. She stepped carefully, avoiding sticks and other debris that would break and make noises to wake Hurley. Claire stepped inside, and straddled an addled Charlie.

"Claire! Wh–" Charlie blurted too loudly.

Claire pressed a hand over his mouth and a finger over her lips. They both stayed perfectly still until she was certain she hadn't heard Hurley move. She removed the finger from her lips and the hand from his mouth. She leaned over, and whispered in his ear, "Charlie, Hurley is asleep on your bench right outside. Just keep quiet until he walks away again, then we can talk out loud, kay?"

"Kay," Charlie whispered back. He could barely stand the feel of her against him, afraid he might make a terribly loud noise and smother all of her in kisses.

"Good," Claire whispered, and on impulse licked his earlobe. She felt him shudder beneath her, kissed his ear and sat back up to full straddling position.

Hurley slowly woke up at the crack of dawn, feeling the sun warm him up. He stretched for the second time that morning, feeling his back crack as he leaned backwards, hands barely avoiding brushing Claire's wall. He put his hands back in his lap, and sighed in contentment, feeling that something was right with the morning. He stared at the ocean as it came alive, sparkling with life. He sat, and stared, unaware that Claire was searching for her underwear behind him under the impression that he was asleep. He took a deep breath–he wasn't a yawner–and just felt good. A couple minutes later, Hurley got up, stretched and walked on down the beach, never having seen the shelter behind him once that night.

Charlie spent a minute and a half with Claire on top of him, occasionally running her fingers over his chest, intertwining her fingers with his or making sure his hands didn't wander anywhere that would make her laugh or squeal too loud. So, after a minute and a half of sparse moans, giggles, squeals, and one snort which nearly led to an all out laugh breakdown, Claire decided to check if Hurley was even there anymore.

As she worked her way back off of Charlie's legs, she leaned out and looked at the bench, which was surprisingly empty, with a set of deep footprints leading off up the beach. She crawled back up onto his legs, and ran her fingers down his chest again.

"The sleeping giant has moved back to his shelter," Claire said, seeking out his hands again to hold and to touch and to feel and. . . well. . . several other things that led down the same road that normally ended in Charlie topless, but since last night ended in Sexual-Satisfaction Country. She'd made up in her mind that Ookyville was far, far away, and would stay there.

Charlie looked her up and down, from her eyes to where she sat on top of him and back. "You know," he said, "it's a little obvious that you aren't wearing any underwear."

Claire looked down and, not to much surprise, saw that her nipples had stiffened underneath her shirt, peaking the thin fabric. Charlie's hands came up to her chest and began to unbutton her shirt. Claire leaned forward until her mouth was at Charlie's ear again, and whispered, "It's also a little obvious that you're turned on."

Claire trailed her hands down his chest, past his waist and started to rub him through the blanket, as Charlie's hands continued to work. As she worked him faster and faster, she whispered, "After this, you get your clothes, dress and go back to the caves. We have to act like nothing happened last night. If anyone asks, we sat and watched the fire together, then you left. Deal?"

Charlie's breathing got faster and heavier as she rubbed him harder and harder. The only response he could give was to moan into her shoulder as he came. A few seconds later, he managed to breathe out, "Deal."

Claire kissed him as hard as she could, opening her mouth to his and tonguing his lips, begging entrance. A heartbeat later, he was kissing her furiously, one hand holding her to him, and the other tracing circles around her bare nipple.

She broke the kiss off with a short moan. She looked him in the eye and said, "You really have to go. If someone sees us like this. . ."

"Yes, yes, Ookyville and suchlike," Charlie said. "Can we do this again?"

"I'm free tonight if you are," Claire said, smiling.

"I can reschedule my golf tournament," Charlie laughed. He kissed her neck, trailing down to nibble on her collarbone. All he wanted was to taste and feel her for the next. . . ever.

Claire tried not to moan or breathe too loudly. "Here," she said, passing him his underwear, "take these, find your pants, and next time I leave you with my top and my bra, take them inside with you."

Charlie hurriedly started putting his pants on. "Do you know where I left my shirt by any chance?"

Claire crawled around on the sand. "I think it's under. . ." she paused, feeling under the blanket, "here." Her hand re-emerged with his shirt. She passed it to him as the both stood.

"Thanks," he muttered, and threw it on. He straightened out his shirt, looked at her and smiled. "Your shirt's still. . ."

Claire looked down and realized her shirt was open and she was totally exposed. "Oh, thanks," she said as she quickly buttoned it back up. When she was done, she looked Charlie in the eye again. They stayed that way for a while.

"So. . ." Charlie began. "Uhh. . . goodbye?" He nervously walked over to her and kissed her.

Claire broke it off after a few seconds. "Bye, Charlie." Charlie hurried out of the shelter, and started to jog back to the caves. A couple meters away, he turned around.

"Tell me if you find my shoes, yeah?" He asked, nervous.

"Oh! Of course." Claire said. They both felt like they weren't saying something that needed to be said. They both stared at the ground in awkward silence.

"Well, seeya tonight!" Charlie said.

"I'd better!" Claire laughed. They both sighed, and Charlie ran off.

* * *

So, that's the morning after. I think this actually has legs! I thank my reviewers, LunaAqua and ladydragon99 for the encouragement, cos otherwise, this would never get off the ground. Ever. It would've been a oneshot, and I have you guys to thank for the second chapter. (And third and fourth it looks like. Though, I'm not telling you what's in those. . . ;)) 


	3. The Beach and the Forest

Hi everyone. It's-a me again, with so much fluff you could drown in it. That's right, a double chapter of fluffity goodness. As we all know it should be. Anyway, Hurley chats up Charlie regarding a weird fire he saw on the beach, and Shannon chats up Claire about the strange visitor at her shelter last night. And the baby moves. It's alive, don't worry. Right now, it's before "Abandoned", so I'm not AU just yet! Nyehhhhhh!

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Lost. Though it would be pretty hardcore. Mhm.

Word of Warning: Charlie and Claire don't even talk to each other in this chapter. They take "acting like it didn't happen" so far as to not talk to each other all day. If this frustrates you, then :P.

* * *

As Aaron sat in his mother's arms, he thought mostly simple thoughts. They came mostly in colours and shapes, with the occasional idea. His thoughts right now were very simple: yellow, green, mama. Sandy, blue, no dada. He frowned up at mama; after all, not knowing where your father is is a bad thing. When mama didn't notice, he reached out to try and grab. No grab. Frown. 

"And what are YOU so unhappy about?" Claire asked Aaron. "I've changed your nappy at least twice already, I just fed you twenty minutes ago, and I'm getting nothing in return?"

Claire sighed. She was sitting on the beach, trying to find out what was wrong with Aaron. When Aaron quieted down, or more likely just wasn't crying, she stared at the waves. She thought it might not have been such a hot idea to tell Charlie to act like it hadn't happened. It seemed like all day he'd taken it to the extreme of not talking to her, or interacting with her for fear that he might smile wrong, or wave different. Though Claire found it a bit trying, she did find it adorable; catching him staring at her, waving at him, watching him blush and find something very interesting on the ground.

"Hey, mommy," said Shannon, cruising up beside Claire and planting herself in the ground. Shannon looked over and smiled lazily at Claire. "What's shakin'?"

"Well, I don't know why," Claire said, "but this baby is just so moody today, and I can't find out for the life of me what's bugging him. . ." Claire cradled the baby to her chest and looked at Shannon, tired. To her surprise, Shannon laughed, for what seemed like the first time since Boone's death. "What's so funny?" Claire said, with her brow furrowed in a fashion eerily similar to her baby's.

"The fact that you don't know why your baby's down," Shannon chuckled. Shannon looked down the beach at Hurley, walking up the beach towards them. She went into weird thought lane, thinking about last night and Claire's baby daddy. She supposed she had to bring it up sometime. When she tuned back in to the conversation all she caught was,

". . . would be?" Claire asked expectantly. She looked at Shannon, trying to get her attention. She had to admit, she was a bit curious as to why her baby kept frowning and grabbing her nose, and whoever had the answer, she'd listen.

"Hm?" Shannon mumbled. "Oh! He misses his daddy."

Claire was confused. "His dad's in Aus–"

"No he isn't," Shannon cut Claire off. "Anyway, that brings me to my next question, did I see a mysterious visitor at your hut yesterday? Middle of the night like?"

"Hm?" Claire panicked. What to do? Agh! She knew! She knew Charlie had been there! Uhhh. . . play it cool. . . yeah. . . . . . "Uhhh, you. . . . might. . . have?" Real cool, she scolded herself. Cooler than the blue of Charlie's–GYAH!

"I could have sworn he was just sitting there outside, watching a fire," Shannon teased. "I'm pretty sure you were both watching it together, but you might have gone inside by then." Shannon wondered what he and Claire could have been doing in such a romantic setting. She was pretty sure they were just friends.

"G-g-y-g-gy-I-I think I went inside to. . . check on the baby!" Claire held Aaron up as proof. "Check on Aaron, and such. . ." Claire faltered realizing that if Shannon had seen her go inside, then she'd seen her come back out. And tackle Charlie. And leave her underwear on his face. Oh, dear. . .

"I honestly thought," Shannon began, "that you two were just friends. Sue me for not seeing the obvious, I suppose. And I guess he is funny. . ."

"Just friends?" Claire blurted. "We are NOT just–! But–we are! Yes, just friends! Nothing happened! At all! Ever! Stop saying it did! Why are you saying we–did–that!"

"Whoa," Shannon said soothingly, "spaz off, little sister. So, you aren't just friends, I got that. . ."

At this point, Hurley walked by. Having heard Claire's rampant denial of her and Charlie's "just friends"ship and then her rampant denial of her rampant denial. . . the first thought that rolled through his mind was, Dude. Charlie got laaaaiiiid. He is so getting the Spanish Inquisition. He broke into a lazy, triumphant smile, happy that at least his best friend was getting some.

"Hey, Shannon," he said with the same goofy smile on his face. "Hi, Claire."

"Hey Hurley," said Shannon, looking at Hurley's expression and thinking, Man, someone got LAID. Well, we'd figured that out already, hadn't we? Shannon felt good about her sleuthing skills. And she'd honestly thought that Charlie and Claire were destined.

"Hi Hurley," said Claire, blowing him off. "Shannon, listen, it's not like we actually DID anything."

Hurley's smile grew even more. Even HE knew about girl-gossip. If you're trying to convince a girlfriend that nothing happened, then you KNOW shit went down. I guess being the best friend comes in handy once in a while, he thought. He would have to take this up with Charlie, cos if he was getting some, mayhap Hurley could just live through him.

"We just sort of–" Claire began.

Shannon was bewildered at least. "Wait, wait, hey, hey, whoa! You just totally blew Hurley off!"

"Yeah, so?" said Claire. She was starting to be worried about Shannon's mental health and stability.

"But that means you and Hurley didn't– But then who were you talking– But that means you and Charlie– OH MY GOD!" Shannon screamed in a sudden burst of realization. "Did you and–!"

"Shut up shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP!" Claire half whispered, half yelled plaintively. She was busy keeping one arm over Aaron's ears and the other over Shannon's apparently cavernous mouth. "First, you're going to–"

Aaron, confused by the silence, began to cry.

"And second, not everyone on the island needs to know! I thought by the way he was acting it was obvious enough!" Claire shouted quietly. "First he builds a giant fire he expects no one to notice, then he leaves my shelter shoeless at dawn, now he can't help but flush and look at the ground every time I catch him staring at me!"

"Oh, man. . . but you two actually. . . oh god, I'm going to say this, 'went all the way'?" Shannon said incredulously. "But you two have known each other how long? Not counting what you can't remember!"

"I remember peanut butter!" Claire paused. "Well, imaginary peanut butter. So he says." Seeing the I-Told-You-So look on Shannon's face, she blurted "But I trust him! And it felt perfectly natural."

"Ahh, so you were both completely naked," Shannon stated. "Well, I hope it was good."

"Why do you hope that?" Claire asked, trying to calm Aaron down.

"Well, some people here still aren't getting any," Shannon sighed. She stared out at the water and thought of him. Just his name alone made her weak in places that weren't exactly her knees. Sayid. . . . mmmm. . . .

"Shannon? Shannon?" Claire said. She waved a hand in front of her face. "Shannon? Earth to planet Mars. . . . nothing?"

"Nguh?" Shannon snapped to attention. "Oh, sorry." Shannon began, but had trouble getting any words out on her situation. Shannon shook her head and said the best she could come up with. "I hope it was really special, cos some people on the island still haven't had their. . . first times. . ."

Claire had been confused. She had been stunned. This was the first time since the crash that she had been utterly flabbergasted. "You mean, you're a. . ." She whispered the last word, like if she said it really quietly, the world would go back to normal, ". . . virgin?"

Shannon, in contrast, laughed so loud that survivors walking around turned to see what was so funny. "Oh, GOD no! No, no, no, no. . . not. . . no! No. No. I just meant Sayid and I haven't done anything further than hardcore cuddling."

"If cuddling can be hardcore, maybe Charlie should get some pointers," Claire joked.

"Why," Shannon asked, "he that bad at it?"

"Oh, no," Claire corrected. "He's good at just about everything to do with beds. I'm pretty sure in another life, he could've sold beds for a living. Or made them. Those are the only two things I'm unsure of though. The rest though. . . oh, God, it's like he was made to love me." Claire reminisced for a moment. "Ah. . . he's coming back tonight, you know."

"Really?" Shannon asked. "Cos from the way he's been avoiding you, it looks like he contracted herpes."

"Shannon!"

"Oh, right, that'd mean that you have herpes," Shannon said. "Though, anything is possible. You with the herpes, Sawyer with the gayness. . ."

"You honestly think Sawyer's gay?" Claire asked. At this point, the conversation turned into girl-talk, none of which Aaron understood. All Aaron could tell was that he saw was mama and someone who looked like mama. But no dada. He went on to be fussy all day.

'OH MY GOD!' he heard Shannon yell. Yep, laid, Hurley thought. As he walked, he got a bit thirsty. He decided to cut through the trees behind Shannon and Claire to get water from the caves so as not to disturb them. As he (surprisingly silently) made his way through the trees, he came upon a strange scene. What he thought he saw was sorta weird. Which was why he hesitated before attempting to climb the tree.

What he saw was Charlie sitting high up in a tree, watching Claire. Just sitting there, looking like a tweenager in love. It honestly would have been creepy, except for the fact that both of his hands were visible. As Hurley stared in confusion, Charlie sighed, looking completely lost.

Charlie was staring at Claire, watching her laugh and talk with Shannon. As hard as he tried to keep Claire clothed in his mind, he always slipped back to the last night. He supposed it was a stroke of luck that Aaron had slept the night. He also supposed it was a stroke of luck that he'd managed to find his shoes after Claire le–

"Hey."

Charlie jumped like an electric shock had run through him. He was too startled to scream. He grabbed frantically onto the branch he was sitting on. After he'd recovered, he lay down face first on the branch, and vaguely thought about checking to see if he'd shat his pants.

"Hurley," Charlie said to the branch in front of him, "if you do that again, I swear to god, you will not see another day."

"Sorry, dude," Hurley said. He was sitting casually on the branch as if he always sat high up in trees on deserted islands with rock stars.

"How in fucking hell did you manage that?" Charlie yelled at the branch.

"I'm spry," Hurley said. "So, I hear you got laid." Not one for tact was Hurley.

Feeling the urge to sit up, Charlie straightened himself up, keeping a firm grip on the branch. "If I reply, the shock might promote an unguarded response, which would subsequent–"

"Yep," Hurley said. "Laaaaaiiiiid. Way to go, dude."

Charlie waited a couple seconds. "That's. . . it? That's all?"

Hurley looked like Charlie was asking him if he was 100 sure that the sky was actually blue. "Yeah. . . you expected more?"

"Well," Charlie began, "Claire and I were preparing for more, that's why we agreed not to talk to each other."

"No you didn't."

"Huh?"

"You said you'd act like it never happened," Hurley said. "If it'd never happened, you'd be taking care of Aaron and staring at Claire as she walked off down the beach with Shannon. What are you doing?" Charlie stared at Hurley spitefully. "Right, sitting in a tree, waiting for her to leave." Hurley paused and looked down at the ground. "By the way dude, too late."

Charlie looked down and Claire was gone. "Son of a bitch!" Charlie swung out on to the trunk and started to climb down.

"Uh, dude?" Hurley said doubtfully.

"What?" Charlie shouted.

"Can I get a little help?" Hurley asked.

"You got up there okay!"

"It's the down part that's hard," Hurley said. "Can you get a bunch of people and a blanket?"

"Oh, bloody fucking Christ. . ."

And so, several minutes later, after much shouting and a couple times when chicken, lotto girls and a set of numbers flashed before Hurley's eyes, he was safely on the ground. Hurley sighed and wiped the dirt off of his shirt. Then realized he was only wiping dirt off of dirt, that was on top of dirt. He briefly pondered how much of his shirt was actually cotton-poly blend before–

"HURLEY!" Charlie yelled.

"NGAHHH!" Hurley started. Hurley snapped his head up and looked around. "Yeah, Charlie?"

"Did you see where she went?" Charlie asked, for what would have been the third time in the last thirty seconds. Charlie didn't know how Hurley managed to space out all the time. He was always so calm, and collected, and mellow. Really set a man on edge, that.

"Huh?" Hurley blinked a couple times, then realized what he'd just been asked. "Oh, I think she went that way," pointing vaguely to his right. Hurley wasn't really sure which way Claire had gone. He only pointed towards the caves cos he was really thirsty now.

"Oh. Thanks." Charlie shook off the weirdness of a straight answer and walked off where Hurley had pointed. Before he got too far, he picked up a large stick and started using it to help him walk.

"Uh, dude?" Hurley asked carefully.

"Hm?"

"That's my stick." Hurley pointed at the piece of wood Charlie held in his right hand.

"Why'd you leave it over here?" Charlie asked.

"Well, I couldn't exactly climb the tree with it," said Hurley walking by Charlie and swiping his stick in one smooth motion. "Come on. You wanna catch up with her, right?"

"Well," Charlie began, "sort of. . ." Charlie really wanted to keep his distance. After sleeping with someone, they kind of wanted their space for a while he'd noticed. Or at least, he'd noticed they didn't appreciate the usual clingy-ness he brought to the table.

"Then come on!" Hurley took two triumphant steps forward, and stopped abruptly. He turned back to Charlie with a look of puzzlement on his face. "Hey, Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"Well," Hurley hesitated. Would Charlie actually know about this? Well, he might know something. Safer bet would be to ask Locke. But, Charlie and Locke are tight, right? Oh, hell. "There was this huge fire on the beach last night. Like, big huge. And there was a bench in front of it. Like, only big enough for two people, or me and a midget. But, it was really weird. There was like, nothing around it. Just a fire."

"Oh." Charlie was stunned. It sounded exactly like his fire, but. . . "Are you sure there wasn't a. . . shelter set up behind it? Did you see one?"

"Uh, no?" Hurley said uncertainly. Could there have been? He tried hard to bring back the night, and all he remembered was the last dying embers and their beauty against the stars. He thought back to the morning, when he was stretching on the bench and he had felt nothing. "No. Not that I noticed. And it's a pretty big thing, shelter made out of airplane wreckage."

"Oh, well," Charlie said, "that's odd."

"Why?" Hurley asked. "You happen to build a giant fire for Claire last night? 'Oh, Claire, I love you so much it huuuuurrrrts! Oh, yeah–'"

"Prat!" Charlie yelled, laughing. At times, Hurley's impressions of him pining for Claire got tiresome. But he always knew the one button to push. "Hey, at least you're making fun of me for having a woman. When are you shacking up, Hurley? All the kids are doing it," Charlie singsang.

"Well," Hurley said matter-of-factly, "at least I've had experience with actual relationships. How involved did YOU get with your one-night stands?"

Charlie laughed. "Oh, low, low blow. Tell me, do you even have a crush on anyone? Abandoned island, very little chance they'd say no. . ."

Hurley was in stitches. "Oh, and they'd say no just cos I'm a fat guy? They wouldn't have to wait that long for me to be skinnier than you, you know. And if chicks really are dating for sense of humour, we both know I got you beat senseless."

Charlie sat on a nearby log; Hurley quickly followed suit. "Oh, please. Talk that nutters, the only person who'd date you is a clinical psychologist! And on an Island this small, good luck!"

"Hey," Hurley said pointedly. "This Island is freakin' huge, dude. There is a clinical psychologist out there somewhere, lookin' for me. She probably doesn't even know it yet." Hurley sighed. "She coulda been on the plane. . ."

"You tell yourself that, Hurley. . ." Charlie smiled and stared out into space.

"In the tail-section. . ."

"Mm, necrophilia. Wakes you up in the morning. . ." Charlie had a bit of a chuckle to himself.

"Dude, afternoon," Hurley said. "And Rose doesn't think they're dead. And I gotta say, I believe her."

"Why?" Charlie asked. "They have no logical reason to be alive. They broke off in mid-air; landed in the water. Statistically speaking, they have no chance of survival."

"Dude," Hurley said. "Neither did we."

They both paused at the unintended gravity of this statement. They looked away at opposite ends of the forest. Hurley twiddled his thumbs. He took a deep breath.

"Well, getting back to the lighter side of life," Hurley said, getting up, "we live in caves and you're father to a cute blonde girl's island baby."

"And everyone's in love with you since that stunt with the food," Charlie said. "So what if we have to push a button every hundred and eight minutes. If we're both as rich as we claim to be, we're sitting on 300 trillion, 156 million dollars on this island. Then, Jack was a doctor in LA, I presume, so that adds another million or two."

"Yeah." Hurley smiled. "We're fucking rich."

"Positively loaded."

Hurley sighed and picked up his stick. "Well, let's get back to the caves. I dunno about you, but I am hellishly thirsty. One of the downsides of living on a tropical island." Hurley started to walk back to the caves.

"Hey!" Charlie yelled. "What about Claire? Aren't we supposed to be finding her or something?"

Hurley turned to face Charlie. "Trust me dude, after the way you've been acting all day and what I think happened last night. . ." Hurley looked at the sky, and the position of the sun. "And the fact that the sun's about to go down anyway, I think you can afford to build the suspense."

"Oh, and I suppose you'd know?" Charlie asked.

"Didn't we just get into an argument over this?" Hurley turned and kept walking to the caves. "Far as I can remember, it turned into a conversation about psychologists and necrophilia." Hurley stopped and chuckled. "And we think Locke has issues. Heh. . ."

Charlie hurried to catch up with Hurley. "Hey, don't get on Locke's case, man. He knows things."

"He knew enough to get us into that hatch," Hurley said. "And that had some crazy guy in it. But before you go on to say you never heard about that," he said over top of Charlie trying to say that he hadn't heard of some crazy guy in the hatch, "how _did_ you get laid, anyhow? Cos, it seemed like all you two were doing was the Orthodox Jew shuffle."

"Ha ha ha, funny man," Charlie sneered. "How would you know about the Ortho. . ."

"Orthodox. . ."

"Orthodockie thingy shuffle anyhow?" Charlie asked. "I thought you were Spanish."

"Dude, I'm American first," Hurley said. "So spill."

"Well, you know how on the first date you usually watch something?" Charlie asked.

"Dude, you made a handbook?" Hurley laughed.

"No, but it's a habit I've noticed," Charlie said defensively. "Well, I actually do know about your fire, Hurley."

Hurley stopped and turned towards Charlie. "Huh?"

"I built it so Claire and I would have something to watch," Charlie admitted guiltily. "Hence the bench. What I don't know," Charlie continued, "is how you managed to miss her shelter when you woke up. I mean, it's huge. Not that tall, cos we aren't that tall, but still big."

"I don't remember telling you I slept there," Hurley said suspiciously. It was at this point that they both realized how unobservant Hurley was and how close he'd come to seeing Charlie and Claire_ au naturel_. "Oh, GROSS dude! Ugh! Oh, god, EW! You mean I was within arms reach of you and Claire when you–OH, GOD! Ew! Ew! A million times EW!"

"Sorry?" Charlie said doubtfully. It was weird watching Hurley's psyche collapse in on itself.

"No amount of apologies will make up for the fact that I was an arm's length away from you and Claire when you were–UGH!" Hurley started to stamp off to the caves when he realized who he was leaving out in the equation. "And the baby! You had sex in front of the _BABY_? I don't even _KNOW _you anymore! Just–UGH!"

"Don't leave now!" Charlie yelled at Hurley's back. "I still need dating advice!"

Hurley stopped, turned around and walked back to where he'd left Charlie. "Okay, if that was not the weirdest 'don't go' plea I had ever heard, I wouldn't've come back." Before Charlie could open his mouth to interject, he continued. "Now, number one, let Sun take care of the baby. Or anyone. Just not me, and not Shannon. Two, follow your instincts. They did you fine last night." As Hurley started to walk away, he turned back and said, "Dude. Whatever you do, don't tell her you love her. The words 'too soon' are applicable like insane is to the odds of us ending up on an island together. Have a nice night, I gotta get some water."

As Charlie watched Hurley walk away, he started to feel very confident. He turned to look at the sun, watching it fall beyond the horizon. He smiled to himself and started to walk back towards the beach.

As Claire left Aaron with Sun for the night, along with the cradle and fresh nappies, she started to feel very confident. She turned to look at the setting sun, watching it fall beyond the sea. She smiled to herself, and then remembered that she still hadn't found Charlie's shoes for him. A troubled look passed over her face, and she jogged to her shelter to find them before he arrived.

* * *

And on that cliffy note, I shall leave you all. :P. Sorry, but writing this chapter was like giving birth to a toddler. Not that I'd know what childbirth feels like, with the being a guy and all. Anyway, I hope you all liked it. All four or five of you. I've lost count. I should probably check. . . Five! All five of you that I know by name, and the countless people who read and didn't review. Yes, I love you too. So, night y'all! 


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